8 Times TNA Turned Trash Into Treasure
2. The Claire Lynch Trifecta: I Am With No One
Yes, the Claire Lynch angle was so bad that TNA's bounce-back earns itself three separate entries in this list.
After several more defeats, including one that stipulated he couldn't challenge for the World title for one calendar year, AJ took some time off. Returning to TNA with longer hair, a beard, darker ring gear, and a devastating new submission maneuver, AJ made his presence felt immediately, running off Bad Influence before decking James Storm with a clothesline so brutal, it knocked AJ's hood back up.
Having returned during the Aces & Eights storyline, people wanted to know if AJ's loyalty rested with TNA or the outlaw bikers. Remaining silent, AJ found himself at odds with Kurt Angle. Sting, meanwhile, revisited his own silent, brooding Crow days from WCW and tried to convince AJ to join the fight against Aces & Eights.
AJ even teased joining Bully Ray and the invaders, before smashing several of them with a hammer and making it abundantly clear that he was loyal only to himself.
Eventually, AJ did team with Angle's reformed Main Event Mafia, battling Aces & Eights in a match where whoever took the pinfall would be banished from TNA. When AJ stepped up to join the team, that was probably the last big pop of the Spike TV era. The crowd went mental at the sight AJ doffing his hood and returning, at least for the night, to his Phenomenal One persona.
And that wasn't all...